I’ve been hearing rumours of an pending acquisition for months but it’s finally official. Softchoice has acquiredUnis Lumin for $17M in cash. I’ve known both founders since before they started the company and I’m pleased that after more than 20 years of hard work, they get to cash out.
It will be interesting to see what the new owners do with the company.
According to an article published by the Financial Post this morning, Bell and Telus are about to announce that they will be jointly upgrading their cellular networks to 3G.
The Post states that multiple telecom industry sources have said that Bell Canada and Telus intend to share the cost to upgrade to the next-generation wireless network and that the announcement will be made next week. It is estimated that the cost of the upgrade will be approximately $1 Billion and that it will take one year to complete.
If true, the Nokia Siemens Networks’ provided upgrade will allow both companies to compete with Rogers by offering popular mobile devices such as Apple’s iPhone 3G and Research In Motion’s Black-Berry Bold.
When combined with the recent spectrum auction and the entry of new wireless competitors such as Quebecor, Shaw, DAVE Wireless and Globalive, the 3G announcement will contribute to significant change in the Canadian Wireless marketplace over the next couple of years.
BroadSoft announced today that it has acquired the M6 Communications Application Server from Genband. The M6 was originally developed by VocalData which was acquired by Tekelec.
The acquisition could be good news for Hosted IP Telephony service providers who questioned Genband’s commitment to further development of the M6 platform. BroadSoft will gain access to new customers; especially in Canada where most Hosted IP Telephony services for business are based on the M6 application server.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the BCE takeover by the Ontario Teacher’ Pension Plan could move forward overruling a previous Quebec court decision in favour of the BCE bondholders. The bondholders have been opposed to the deal arguing that the high price tag and heavy debt burden associated with the deal will dramatically decrease the value of their bonds.
Now, the focus will shift back towards the financial aspects of the takeover. Market conditions have changed considerably since the initial conditions of the deal were put together. The odds that all of the original players who are putting up the cash and financing the debt will proceed with the original terms are slim. Look for many more twists and turns before this deal finally closes.
Vonage announce yesterday that its revenue had grown 15% for Q1 2008 and that customer growth was 30,000 compared to 56,000 for the previous three months. The company narrowed its loss to $9 Million for the period.
Vonage also announced a deal with Covad that will allow Vonage to sell broadband services.
I maintain that in order for Vonage to thrive, that it must enhance its telephony service with complimentary and innovative services that will makes its offerings more compelling and their customers more loyal.
Telus Corp.is reporting a 7% increase in revenue in its first quarter. Factoring in a $173 million expense that was added to the financial statements due to a change in Telus’ share option plan last year, profits were up 49% over the same period last year.
Without the adjustment, profits actually dropped 4% for the quarter. Profits were down 27% compared to the last three months of 2007 when a tax adjustment partly accounted for a net income of $400.1 million.
Darren Entwistle, TELUS president and CEO said, “first quarter results were driven by strong data growth in both the wireless and wireline business segments. This growth and our cash flow enable TELUS to continue returning value to shareholders whilst investing in the long-term success of our company.”
“Based on today’s results, we are reaffirming TELUS’ full year 2008 financial and operating targets announced last December,” added Mr. Entwistle. Robert McFarlane, TELUS executive vice-president and CFO, said, “TELUS successfully accessed the unsettled Canadian capital market in April with the issue of $500 million of 5.95% long-term notes. Placing these seven-year notes reflects our strong investment grade credit ratings and further increased the considerable strength of the TELUS balance sheet in advance of the upcoming AWS wireless spectrum auction.”
Fido has announced the availability of their dual-mode (Cellular / VoIP over WiFi) phone service. Fido UNO works by connecting calls from a specially-enabled handset to a high-speed Internet connection when at home and through the Fido network when on the go. Customers now have the freedom to talk as much as they want on their Fido phone while at home without using up their wireless plan minutes and all the benefits of a mobile when they’re not.
Fido UNO offers plans for $15 / month (unlimited local calling) or $20 / month (unlimited local and Canadian long distance) for wireless calling at home, in addition to the regular wireless voice plan. Existing customers can add the service to a current voice plan with the purchase of a UNO-enabled handset and receive the voice-optimizing wireless router free of charge.
BCE Inc., which is in the late stages of a takeover by a private equity group led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has announced that a $236-million charge contributed to a 50% drop in profits. The charge was related to a CRTC ruling requiring telecoms to expand broadband services to 86 remote Canadian communities.
Bell reported earning of $258-million (32 cents per share), compared with $499-million (62 cents) in the same quarter last year.
In a press release Michael Sabia stated “During the quarter, we made good progress on the completion of the privatization transaction and delivered solid financial results, consistent with our plan for the year.”
Rogers has announced that it will be offering a dual-mode phone for home use starting tomorrow. The Nokia 6086
dual-mode phone will allow Rogers wireless subscribers to make make calls on their cell phones over the Internet when they are within range of their home Wi-Fi network.
The service will be appealing to a segment of wireless subscribers who are interested in dropping their wired residential phone line in favour of a single wireless device. The fact that there is currently only one device (the 6086) to choose from, for use on the Rogers network, will likely limit adoption.
It’s a modest example of the type of innovation that has been made practical through the advances in IP communications. It’s also another example of technologies and services that will continue to nibble away at the traditional Telcos’ residential subscriber base.
CNN is reporting that Microsoft has abandoned its attempt to acquire Yahoo.
“After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) do not make sense for us,” said Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Ballmer.
Have to hand it to John C Dvorak who has insisted from the beginning, despite the popular view, that this deal made no sense and that it would never happen.
has announced that a $236-million charge contributed to a 50% drop in profits. The charge was related to a CRTC ruling requiring telecoms to expand broadband services to 86 remote Canadian communities.
